Three Spots Off the Podium

This was the third race, within seven months, that I have placed three positions off the prize-stage or podium. I was 13^th in the Sundown Ultra-marathon (Masters), 6^th on the Tri-Factor 21K run (Masters), and 6^th on Sunday’s Duathlon. An athlete can only take so much! Or more, for time will tell.

I sprinted with battered legs, 3 seconds behind the 5^th guy (the friendly Hogi Hyun, USA who I chatted with), 25 seconds for the 4^th place (Mathia Deubel, Germany), 28 seconds for 3^rd place podium (Ryo Sasaki), and 1:32 for 2^nd.

What did I learn from this event? Mainly, I have it in me to pit against the best in my field as the time differential can be drawn from either the run or the ride.  My ride was compromised by an, annoyingly, detached bottle-cage and pronounced concern for speeding on a crowded and prematurely shortened bike route; filled with hesitant inexperienced riders and impatient seasoned riders. Also, I will need to review my training approach, and focus on my core strength, pedal power, and speed-work. I believe that I still have the legs to ride and run faster in time, and I can handle the heat and humidity much better. It may not be about the bike, but I had a darn good Elite custom-made and fitted bike, with comfortable ISM saddle. I recalled suffering heat exhaustion on my first biathlon sprint – it was a disaster, and I still had a finish time!

The One-Hour Challenge I proposed, recently, continues to interest people. The setup is as such: Give yourself exactly 60 minutes, and do as many tasks as you can, or one complex task as well as you can. You must complete it by the deadline.

Here is Macca’s interview (with FirstOffTheBike.com) the way I like it: tough, honest and gritty: Like a day riding in Desaru. Read it and drip! It also conveys the idea that journalists who quote out of context, or make liberal edits can misrepresent professionals and fuel the fire, if conflict exists between subjects. On Leadership Lessons From Triathlons, we report as is, in situ. Nothing is taken apart, except with expressed permission, and to clarify the questions.

Photo-credits: Tey Eng Tiong

Nr	Bib	Name	Nationality	1stRun	RnkR1	Bike	RnkB	2ndRun	RnkR2	Total
1	1386	Matthew Quin	Australia	00:43:31	1	01:03:03	1	00:24:52	1	02:11:24
2	1354	Gianfranco Matteucci	Italy	00:46:41	5	01:08:28	4	00:28:43	7	02:23:50
3	1394	Ryo Sasaki	Japan	00:45:58	2	01:09:51	7	00:29:10	9	02:24:58
4	1367	Mathias Deubel	Germany	00:45:59	3	01:11:32	12	00:27:31	3	02:25:00
5	1351	Hogi Hyun	United States	00:50:03	10	01:06:30	2	00:28:47	8	02:25:19
6	1385	Enrico Varella	Singapore	00:46:44	6	01:11:58	13	00:26:41	2	02:25:22